10 Creative Ways to Use Calliographs Brush Pens

Hi, friend! I’m Maira, with Vial Designs, bringing you this tutorial as an Archer & Olive Ambassador. You can find me on YouTube and Instagram, as @vialdesigns. Today, I’m walking you through 10 fun, creative beginner-friendly ways to use Calliograph pens so you can make the most of them in your bullet journal, planner, and many other creative projects. I also made a free printable for you to make it easier to start using your calliograph pens right away!

If you’ve been curious about Calliograph pens—what they do, how to use them, and whether they’re worth adding to your creative toolkit—this tutorial is for you. 

See exactly how to use your Calliograph brush pens in my video tutorial below, or keep scrolling if you prefer a step-by-step photo tutorial.

Tools I Used:

Use code VD10 to save 10% at Archer & Olive. 

Calliograph Brush Pen Sets. The star of the show, of course!

They come in beautiful themed color palettes — seriously, you’ll want them all!)

• Snow & Stillness
• Attic Treasures
• Gray Scale Set
• Wondrous Skies

• Night Blooms

Other Supplies:

• Archer & Olive Dot Grid Notebook. Songbird in Blue A5, 192 Pages.
• Mixed Media Paper, Smooth cardstock, or watercolor paper
• Pencil + eraser
• White Gel Pen
• Fineliners
• Ruler
• Plastic palette or ziplock bag for watercolor
• Water brush or paintbrush + water
• Paper cutter
• Washi tape (optional but always fun)
  
  

Let’s get into the fun stuff. 💛

What are Calliograph pens?

Calliographs are dual-tipped, water-based brush pens filled with non-toxic ink. 

Each pen has:
✨ A large brush tip — great for coloring, blending, painting backgrounds, and creating bold strokes.
✨ A small brush tip — perfect for details, doodles, outlines, and tiny lettering.

Think of them like your favorite set of art tools that can jump between coloring, shading, blending, journaling, decorating, and crafting without missing a beat. They’re flexible, beginner-friendly, and super satisfying to use.

10 Creative Ways to Use Calliograph Brush Pens

Before we get into all the fun ways you’ll be using your Calliograph pens, I'm here to remind you that creativity isn’t about being perfect… It's about enjoying the process.

Think of this as your permission slip to play, experiment, color outside the lines, and just let yourself have fun. 

These project ideas are meant to spark inspiration and help you relax — no pressure, no perfection required. 

Now, on to the most fun and creative ways you can use your calliograph brush pens!

1. Hand lettering for Planners + Bullet Journals

Calliograph Pens Set used: Snow & Stillness.

This is the obvious one… but for good reason. The flexible tip of these brush pens makes it super easy to do modern calligraphy and many other hand lettering styles inside your journal or planner.

Inside your bullet journal or planner, you can use the Calliograph pens for:

• Monthly covers
• Titles
• Weekly headers
• Trackers
• Quote pages

You can use the broad tip of the pen to create larger modern calligraphy for the monthly covers and the fine tip for weekly headers, quote pages, and smaller titles. 

These are my favorite hand lettering styles to use on my bullet journal and planner:

• Modern calligraphy: Beautiful, simpler, and elegant. 

• Bounce Lettering: If you want to add flair and bounce to your calligraphy.

• Block Lettering: This can be done to complement the modern calligraphy using the fine tip of the calliographs. 

How to do it

1. Pick your brush tip size depending on how big you want your header. 

1. Use the brush tip to write your monthly title in modern calligraphy, like "Goals" in the picture below. 

2. Switch to the fine tip for smaller headings. You can combine block lettering with your modern calligraphy to make your pages extra fun!

2. Go slowww (like “toddler tying their shoe” slow).

3. Remember: Use light pressure on the upstrokes, heavy pressure on the downstrokes as you're forming each letter.

If you haven't done modern calligraphy before, you can learn more about modern calligraphy using calliograph pens in this blog post.

Want more hand lettering ideas? In this video and blog post tutorial, I share 7 easy hand lettering styles for your planner + a free hand lettering practice sheet you can download.

2. Add Shadows to Your Lettering

Calliograph Pens Set used: Gray Scale Set

Shadows make your lettering stand out in seconds.

How to do it:

1. Pick any gray or complementary color Calliograph brush pen.

2. Choose a direction for your light source. For me, the easiest way is to either think:

1. Left light source = shadow at the right and bottom right. 

2. Right light source = shadow to the left and top left. 

3. Add a line depending on where you want your shadow to be. My go-to is to the right and bottom right part of each letter.

3. Transforming your calligraphy into 3D lettering. 

You can take it a step further into shadowing your letters and make them pop from the page!

Calliograph Pens Set used: Snow & Stillness

How to do it:

1. Letter a word using a soft color. We’re creating a 3D effect in our March Cover Page title. 

2. Add a gray shadow with the Gray Scale set using the broad tip.
   

3. Outline the gray shadow with a fineline pen. 

4. Add a second shadow using the fine tip of the Winterberry calliograph pen for the 3D effect. How cool is that 3D effect?
   

4. Blending Lettering

Blending is perfect for ombré lettering and color transitions. Choose colors that provide enough contrast with each other to make a good impact in your lettering. 

Calliograph Pens Set used: Wondrous Skies + Night Blooms

How to do it:

1. Start with the light color to write your word.
2. Add the dark color at the bottom of each letter (one letter at a time).
3. Use the light color again to blend the two colors.
   Optional: Use a brush with water to do the blending of the two colors.
4. Continue repeating the same steps until you’re done with your word.
5. Admire your letters because they look sooo good!

Extra blending tips: 

• You might be tempted to add the darker color to all the letters at once, but make sure you blend one letter. You want the inl to stay wet. This helps to create a seamless transition between colors. 

• Use colors that are close on the color wheel.

• Go slowly—smooth blending takes patience.

• Use smooth-thick paper for better results.

5. DIY Floral Bookmarks

Calliograph Pens Set used: Night Blooms + Snow & Stillness

How to do it:

1. Cut your cardstock paper into bookmark size (I like 2" × 6").

2. Draw simple floral doodles with your Calliograph pens.

Optional: Add ribbon, round the corners, or laminate them for extra life.

These DIY floral bookmarks make amazing gifts, too!

Make sure you check out the free printable at the end of this blog post if you want the template for these exact bookmarks!

6. DIY Happy Birthday Card

Calliograph Pens Set used: Wondrous Skies

How to do it:

1. Fold a 7" × 10" piece of mixed media paper or cardstock in half.

2. Draw colorful vertical rectangles—these become your gift boxes.

3. Add patterns to the rectangles with your white gel pen.

4. Outline the gift boxes, aka rectangles, with a fineliner.

5. Write “Happy” in modern calligraphy above the boxes.

6. Write “Birthday” in block letters below.

7. Add confetti using the fine tip of your Calliograph pens.

This handmade birthday card is cute, fast, and such a sweet touch.

7. Envelope Art

The chef’s kiss detail when sending snail mail. Since we made such a sweet birthday card, we have to make an equally awesome envelope. You gotta make the outside of your mail just as cute as the inside.

Calliograph Pens Set used: Wondrous Skies

How to do it: 

1. Choose your color palette. In this case, it will be the same as the card: Wondrous Skies colors.

2. Letter the first name in big bold block letters and the last name in extended modern calligraphy below to match the width of the name. Then, write the address below the last name with the zip code at the bottom and spread out to match the width of the rest of the address. 

Side note: This name and address are completely made up for tutorial purposes. Don’t worry, I’ll never expose anyone's real address on the World Wide Web. 

3. Add matching gift-box doodles.
   

4. Fill in small confetti lines around the name and address.

Now for the fun, unexpected ways you can use your calliograph pens for 👇

8. Highlighting

In the past, when I’d read maybe a book a year and had commitment issues with using my notebooks and stickers, I was against marking my books. Now I've gotten over the fear, and I know that just like beautiful notebooks, books are meant to be notated to be understood.

That’s why I now support highlighting and annotating my books to make sure that I get the best from them. The calliograph pens are perfect for this. You can use them as highlighters!

Calliograph Pens Set used: Night Blooms

How I use them:

• Lime Glow: new concepts or definitions

• Moonbeam Blue: notes or ideas I want to revisit

Annotation tips

• Keep your annotation system on a sticky-note key to stay consistent.

• Don’t highlight everything—pick what’s truly helpful.

• Use the fine tip for underlining or quick notes.
  

This makes reading feel more intentional and fun. It also makes it easier to come back and revisit important information from your reading. 

9. Watercolor.

Yes, you can fake a watercolor with Calliographs! In this part of the tutorial, I’m going to show you how to use the calliograph pens to create Watercolor-style backgrounds. 

Calliograph Pens Set used: Snow & Stillness

How to do it:

1. Scribble your brush pen onto a piece of plastic or acrylic block. I’m using the Pink Quartz at the top and the Winterberry calliograph at the bottom. 

2. Use a wet brush to pick up the color.

3. Brush it onto your page for a soft wash.

4. Layer colors for a dreamy background you can letter or doodle on top of.

This watercolor background is perfect for lettering quotes or doodles. 

You can use the calliograph pens in the same way for watercolor painting.

10. Relaxing Coloring

Calliograph Pens Set used: Attic Treasures

I made the You Are Loved coloring page + bookmark printable below for you.

How to color it

1. Print the page on smooth cardstock.

2. Start with your lightest shades first.

3. Use the broad tip of the calliograph for bigger sections and the small tip for the lettering part and smaller sections. 

4. Optional: Layer deeper colors to add dimension. Add highlights with a white gel pen.
   
   

Benefits of coloring

• Reduces stress

• Helps you unwind

• Boosts creativity

• Helps your mind slow down
  
  

Your reminder for today: You are loved. Exactly as you are!

You can download the free printable here.

I made two options for you, one is coloring ready, and the other is traceable, so you can practice your drawing skills as well. 

Thank you for Creating With Me Today!

Calliographs pens are such a joy to use, and you can do way more with them than lettering alone.

I hope these ideas help you feel confident using your Calliograph pens, whether you want to create something relaxing, make handmade gifts, or brighten up your bullet journal — these projects will bring color and calm to your day.

If you recreate any of these projects, tag me @vialdesigns and @archerandolive  #AOShare and #archerandolive — we would love to see what you make.

See you in the next tutorial! 💛